Changing Faces
by Michael Fetter
Summary: Typical 'Ranma Takes Control Of His Life' story that completely changes the intricacies of his many relationships.


Disclaimer: Ranma ½ characters and events are property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Video. This story is intended for the free distribution amongst its fans.

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Changing Faces

By Michael Fetter

It was nice up here. No screaming fiancees, katana wielding mothers, over-powered martial artists, or manipulative possible sister-in-laws to ruin the peace that a simple roof could bring. The sky above was clear and calm, not a hint of approaching rainstorms for miles, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't rain suddenly. This was Nerima after all. 

It was time, Ranma finally decided. He'd been up on the Tendou roof for more than a couple of hours just thinking about his life and coming up with some rather drastic, however necessary, changes.

Life had just been getting too complicated. All of these kidnappings, random attacks, and sudden glompings had made Ranma indifferent to much of the world around him. He wanted most of it, if not all of it, to end. Running away was, of course, not an option. The one thing his father taught him and that Ranma stood by, was that running away was for cowards. Instead, he would treat his life like a fight, look for the weaknesses and strike. Like all fights, this one was for keeps. It's hard to see things any other way when it involved your life.

With a contented smile, Ranma sat up in his place on the roof and stared again at the stars he had asked for help each night. A cool breeze wrapped about his body comfortably as if to offer him congratulations on finally solving his two year old problem. "Now," Ranma whispered to the big open sky. "It's time to get things ready."

He landed softly in the backyard beside the sliding backdoor to the house and started in. His slight smile faltered for only a minute when he thought of the person he would have to get help . . . assistance from.

*

"Ranma-kun." Nabiki purred as he walked past the middle Tendou on his way to his room. The sudden throaty voice sent shivers through Ranma's spine as he tried to ignore her and get to bed. It was going to be a long day tomorrow. 

Placing her hand on Ranma's shoulder, Nabiki prevented the martial artist from walking past her without glancing in her direction. A second was all she needed to put the squeeze on the boy. "I've been going over my records and you seem to be falling behind in your payments." Some of her smile fell away to reveal the cold vinere that was Nabiki's trademark in life. "It's going to force me to raise the interests on your debts."

This was nothing new for Ranma. It was times like these that he truly agreed with Shampoo. Smirking, he decided to fight back a little more than he used to. If life was going to change, why not start here? "Mercenary Girl leave Ranma alone." He smirked at Nabiki in a masculine version of the Amazon woman. 

Nabiki was not amused. She didn't like taking guff from anyone and she had come to expect some things from Ranma. This was not one of them. Whatever he is trying to pull was not going to work, Nabiki thought coldly. "It's good to see you have a sense of humor about these things, Ranma. You'll need it when you're an old man and still in my debt."

Shrugging uninterested, Ranma continued his way to the guest room. "My debts are paid, Nabiki. You've got nothing on me anymore."

"Oh?" She smiled like a cat about to take her first bite of parrot. "Two rolls of film, five secrets, and fourteen favors seem to say otherwise."

Again, he shrugged. "I've paid you more than enough to cover everything and I'm not interested in paying more of your interest rates. But," he turned around to face Nabiki straight on, "if that's not enough, I could pay you all at once." For effect, Ranma cocked his right hand back while pouring a good amount of ki into the fist to make it all the more intimidating. 

Now Nabiki has never been known as a stupid or easily bullied person. It's one of the things that got her where she was now. From experience, she knew that Ranma did not hit women and no matter how intimidating he looked. So it came as a great surprise when she said, "Try it." And he did.

*

On his way upstairs, Ranma confronted by a seemingly confused Akane. She watched him from the top of the stairs, carrying his sister carefully in his arms as if it were the most natural thing. What the hell was he doing? Does he think that he can just start hitting on my sister just because we aren't on the best of terms? 

Akane paused in her thinking to wonder if she should really be upset now. She never wanted this engagement in the first place. Taking a closer look as Ranma walked up the stairs, Akane noticed that whatever was happening, Nabiki had no idea. She was out cold. 

Thinking that her sister was about to be molested by the perverted hentai, Akane began another series of her curses directed at Ranma. "Hentai! What do you think you're doing with my sister, you PERVERT!"

Ranma was well versed in Akane's tirades and normally he would fight back in like manner, which naturally turned into a chase around the house, ending with a crash or a splash, depending. Realizing all of this earlier on the roof, Ranma had planned out his new strategy to be tested against his fiancee. Ascending the last few steps, Ranma came up to eye level with the girl with a few steps to go, a lecherous smile on lips. "It's all right, Akane. We can fool around a bit after I set Nabiki down, ne?"

Akane blinked as she heard this unusual retort from Ranma. She more expected him to deny everything and call her a kawaiikunee tomboy, but that definitely wasn't what he just said. What did he say? Akane thought over their most recent argument and discovered it wasn't an argument, not one she understood anyway. Picking it apart, she decided that yes, it was certainly not an argument. Then what was it? What did he mean by 'fool around a bit' and why was he going to set Nabiki down first for?

The blush that rose to her face made her feel embarrassed. Not liking to feel embarrassed, Akane started getting angry. Getting angry, she turned to where Ranma had been a moment ago to yell at him again. 

*

Ranma closed the door to Nabiki's room just as he saw Akane was coming back to her senses. His new 'attack' against Akane worked perfectly. In her flustered state she hadn't even noticed the fact that Ranma had walked around her and was long gone by the time she regained her senses. For a moment, he wondered how her thoughts turned her to become angry with him again, but dismissed it just as quickly. Whatever her reasons, the were most likely as random and silly as usual and so didn't merit any thought on his part. Ranma was just glad that his plan had worked so well. Hopefully, it would last.

After lying Nabiki on her bed and taking a seat at her desk, he started to rifle through her drawers for something useful. Much of her extortion information was probably on her computer, but since Ranma was about as good with computers as he was with math, he didn't see any use coming from that. Opening one of the left hand drawers, Ranma discovered Nabiki's Polaroid camera which she used on him often enough. For a brief moment he considered getting some pay back, but no matter what his new plans were, Ranma was still Ranma. Blushing from the flash of images running through his mind, most pertaining to Nabiki and various states of clothing, he closed the drawer and continued his search.

It was in the bottom drawer on the right, Ranma noticed. Finding what he was after, he settled into the chair and watched Nabiki lying on her bed. It was kind of funny. Awake, you couldn't pull much more than a sneer from the Ice Queen, but asleep she was an entirely different person. She smiled and giggled occasionally as her hands moved about the sheets. "I wonder what she dreams about?"

Of course, this brought on visions of Nabiki gorging herself on mountains of ice cream or some other treat she always enjoys eating. Or maybe standing on some hill, laughing at the debtors below, pushing a large crank. That would be her fantasy, Ranma frowned.

He saw her blink first as she stared up at her ceiling. Probably wondering how the hell she got here, Ranma thought. Nabiki started to look about the room frantically and biting back a gasp when her eyes focused on him. Ranma cringed at the idea that someone would actually fear him, but after what had just happened, he couldn't expect any other reaction. "Nabiki." He started off coolly, just to gain her full attention.

Slowly, Nabiki's cold and demanding gaze started to override the fear, but it still remained, only subdued for the time being. "R-Ranma." She timidly replied.

"We need to talk for a bit." 

*

Downstairs, Akane was pacing in the living room trying to decipher what had just happened. Could this be another of Ranma's schemes to humiliate her or go out with some of his other fiancees? Fine! Not like she cared if the jerk put together a harem and left her entirely. She would be better off without the arrogant martial artist in her life.

Kasumi came out of the kitchen to see her baby sister wearing a hole in the carpet. Akane seemed very upset and she naturally tried to set the other girl's mind at ease. "Akane, would you mind helping me with dinner?" Cooking was one thing Akane seemed to enjoy doing very much though she wasn't very good. That was all right. Kasumi would just give her the easy chopping and cutting jobs. 

Akane snapped out of her thinking after coming to a decision. She hadn't even heard her sister's request she was so involved in her current problem. Walking resolutely to the stairs, Akane readied her mallet for a good round of 'Mallet Ranma', her favorite game when she was mad.

"Oh my! Is something wrong, Akane?" Kasumi asked after setting down a few plates.

"Not for long." Akane answered angrily. Ranma had yet to come out of Nabiki's room. The hentai was probably doing something echii with her sister. "Ranma, you PERVERT! Prepare to-"

"Prepare to what, Akane?" 

Akane stumbled backwards down the stairs and landed hard on her posterior. Didn't Ranma normally catch her when she fell? She looked up to see a smug pigtailed boy leading a broadly smiling Nabiki down the stairs. "Ow. What were you two doing in there and why are you smiling like idiots?!" She demanded.

"I'll tell you when you're older little sister." Nabiki continued to smile and picked up her coat from the hallway entrance. Ranma stepped into his shoes and waited for Nabiki to do the same. "Kasumi, Ranma and I are going to eat out tonight. Don't wait up!" 

The amount of cheer in her voice was just unnatural and Akane was becoming very worried that something had really happened between the two. "Ranma, how could you?!" She started to cry. The truth of what they did was staring at her right in the face, a big smile on her sister's lips. Now they would go and get married, Akane despaired.

Ranma shrugged and opened the door for Nabiki. "What can I say, Akane. I needed the money."

Kasumi dropped one of the bowls of rice and stared at Nabiki. Soun and Genma were also quite surprised and wondered if this was a good thing or not. Surely the clans were being joined, but they weren't expecting it to be done like this. Akane gasped and dropped to her knees, staring at the floor. She tried clenching her hands and getting angry, but she was feeling something utterly different. Hate would fill her spirit and move her body with strength and precision, but all she had now was emptiness. Nothing would mover her from that spot on the floor.

Tears started to splash onto the floor below her. Nabiki seemed ready to say something more, but Ranma reached out and took her sister's hand. 

"We should go, Nabiki." Ranma said evenly and guided a somewhat hurt middle sister out the door.

Akane could only watch the door close. Seeing Ranma take Nabiki's hand had been the cincher for her. She had lost him all because she had been stubborn and foolish. Somehow Nabiki had won Ranma's heart and that left Akane feeling like a lifeless doll, discarded and forgotten. 

"Tendou?" Genma spoke first, a bit stunned by what he had just heard. "Is this a good thing?" Soun only blinked in response. "Do you think we should follow them?"

Soun stared momentarily at his friend blankly. "I . . If Ranma and Nabiki are . . I don't think we need to watch her. If Nabiki is taking Ranma to get married, it would likely be with a signature than a ceremony." Genma nodded and returned to staring at the door his son had just walked out of.

From the floor, they could all hear tiny heart-breaking sobs coming from Akane, curled up into the fetal position. "Ranma . . . Ranma how . . . how could you . . ."

*

Nabiki sighed deeply as she leaned against the outer wall of the Tendou home. She hated having to do that, but Ranma had made it part of the deal. He had been preparing a long time for this night it seemed. The contract they had signed and copied had put her only a few percentage points ahead of the average. Looking over at the confident boy, she wondered if this was how their relationship was going to be from now on.

"Was all of that really necessary?" Nabiki asked, not hiding the bit of contempt in her voice. The one thing she valued over money was her family.

"Sorry, Nabiki, but I had to know for certain." Standing closer to his new found partner, Ranma bent over to pick her up in his arms. "Where to first?"

Nabiki pulled out the little black book Ranma had taken from her desk drawer and flipped to the first page with a post-it sticking out. "If we hurry we can catch the seven o'clock train into downtown Tokyo." Ranma nodded and took off quickly by rooftop for the Nerima station.

*

It ended up being a very late night. Though they were only in Nabiki's room for half an hour, she had been able to call up several magazine and glamour companies and set up meetings within ten minutes of each other. To save time, Ranma had carried them both from building to building, stopping once to dine at an upscale restaurant with a piece of their new found fortune. 

Nabiki hadn't been kidding when she said she could make a fortune selling his face on the market. Now that they had a contract with each other, she used her contacts and pressure tactics to start Ranma's modeling career in earnest.

"So what do you think so far, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, taking a bite from her linguine plate. They had stopped in a pasta restaurant with delicate Italian architecture and somewhat dimmed lighting. It was a romantic spot for couples, but it had just been convenient for them.

Ranma slurped up a string of spaghetti with a satisfied gulp at the end. "Not bad. Ukyou's okonimyaki is better though."

Rolling her eyes, Nabiki took another bite of her pasta and finished it off with the last of her tea. "Not the food you dolt. I was talking about the modeling jobs I've been setting up."

"Oh." Ranma wiped his mouth, his third plate of dinner gone. "Actually I didn't realize we would be paid right away. I thought I'd have to go through some photo shoots first."

Nabiki smiled and felt the large wad of money hidden in her purse. "Well, you are actually. This is just a finders fee. I just thought I'd share it with you since it was your idea."

"Huh, go figure." Said Ranma.

"What?"

"That you could actually be a nice person. Probably a temporary thing from the money though." He chuckled to himself.

Nabiki frowned a bit at the beginning, but she couldn't help but find it a bit amusing. "With the money I plan on making with your new modeling career, I wouldn't be surprised if I was ready to have your baby by the end of the week!"

There were some sudden fits of choking and coughing from the other patrons of the restaurant who had been listening in on their discussion. Most of it came from the flustered boy across the table from her. Nabiki smiled, "So the new Ranma still has a bit of the old inside."

Recovering his breath, Ranma glowered at the mercenary girl across from him. "That wasn't nice, you know." Nabiki smiled a little more. "Teasing me like that."

Nabiki blinked. Now it was her turn to choke on a response. This new Ranma was much more forward and had been catching her off guard a bit too often already. She needed to drop her old views of the pig-tailed martial artist and start working on him from scratch. Whatever Ranma had been doing to get himself ready for this new life, he had been thorough. That's probably why he has been hiding up on the roof for the last two weeks, she thought. "Uhm, yeah, well we should get going soon, Ranma. The next meeting is scheduled in twenty minutes."

Ranma nodded, noting the fact that Nabiki didn't actually renounce the idea of bearing his child. She even seemed to hold onto a major blush for a while after their discussion. 

The meeting went as the last few did and as the next few would. Ranma stood around looking pretty, as Nabiki suggested, and large contracts were set up and signed by all those involved. He would still have plenty of time to develop in the Art, but now he could do so without worrying too much about capitol. A few times he had to change genders before entering the buildings; Nabiki didn't want knowledge of the curse getting out until it was more lucrative. 

*

"Where could they be!" Akane asked not for the first time. After the initial shock had worn off she had gotten upset and stormed about the house, yelling at anyone who talked to her. As the night progressed and Nabiki didn't return with Ranma, Akane moved to the dojo and began destroying the last of the cinder blocks there.

Now she had returned to the house to cry as she realized Nabiki had been telling the truth when she suggested they not wait up. It was early morning and most of the house was asleep. What she wouldn't give to have everything back to normal, for Ranma to be sleeping in his room, plagued only by restless fiancees. But the night was almost gone and still no Ranma. Why was she getting so upset about that jerk? All he ever did was make fun of her, call her names, and spy on her. So why would she care if he was out there with her sister right now?

"What the hell could they be doing?" After asking the question she instantly began to regret it. There were some things she just didn't want to think of and now that she had asked the question she could help but think it. "Oh, Nabiki! I'm going to . . I don't know what I'm going to do, but it won't be pleasant!" She swore to the rising sun.

"Aiyah, Violent Girl. Where Airen?" Shampoo came in from the backyard, holding her bonbori up high, threateningly.

Akane looked up at the Amazon with little interest. Her eyes were a bit swollen from crying and her throat was sore from cursing at the new couple. "Go away, Shampoo."

"Shampoo no leave without Airen. Violent Girl tell Shampoo where is now or Shampoo kill!" She swung one of the bonbori at Akane to show she meant business. 

In a rare show of strength and speed, Akane skipped out of the way of the attack and knocked the Amazon to the ground with one strong punch. "Damn it, Shampoo! I don't want to deal with you now. I don't know where that damned pervert is. He's probably in some sleazy hotel with my sister most likely!" Akane screamed at the lavender-haired girl.

"What Violent Girl talking about. Airen no go out with Kasumi. Shampoo pass on way from clinic." Shampoo looked thoughtful for a moment. Ranma going out with Mercenary Girl, yeah right. She also knew that her husband would not take out Kasumi. The girl was like forbidden fruit to the martial artist.

"Not Kasumi you stupid bimbo. He's out with Nabiki." Akane muttered darkly as she sat down.

"What they do?" Shampoo wondered out loud. "Mercenary Girl blackmail husband again?"

"What?" Did she just here Shampoo right?

Shampoo continued. "Airen no date otherwise, yes?"

Sniffing back the tears, Akane suddenly had a hope that things weren't what they seemed to be. It wouldn't be unlike Nabiki to take advantage of Ranma and he never explicitly said what he had been doing in Nabiki's room. Maybe she had forced him to carry her up to her room and told him what to say. That was possible, right? "You're right, Shampoo. Nabiki must be up to something. C'mon." She grabbed her shoes from the entryway to lead the way out. "We've got to go find them. Ranma may be doing something stupid again."

*

"What is it with you, Saotome?" Nabiki asked irritated. Ranma had been chuckling all morning long since they woke up. They had finished the night earlier this morning actually with a few more interviews. He, or she in some cases, was signed up for shoots with over a dozen popular Japanese fashion magazines. They would have gotten a real big deal with a skin book, but there were limits to how far Ranma would go, nothing beyond underwear and bathing suits . . . oh, and water. That last one was a definite no-no.

Still chuckling, Ranma stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. "I was just thinking about how much trouble we, actually you, would be in if one of my fiancees caught us like this."

Nabiki turned a little green at the idea, failing to appreciate Ranma's joke. Her sister would be bad enough, but Shampoo, Ukyou, and Kodachi would be deadly. None of the other fiancees would hesitate to kill her like Akane would, maybe. "But we're in Tokyo. None of them could find us." She said more for her own assurance.

Ranma shrugged his shoulders and headed back into the bath for his clothes. "Course, most of them don't even need to see us in the act."

He was right, of course. Most of Ranma's suitors believed any half made tale if it involved him and another girl. Nabiki had made quite a deal of money off of that one fault on more than one occasion. But I'm the Ice Queen of Furinkan, Nabiki told herself, and no man would even think about getting that close to me.

From the bathroom, Ranma's voice filtered into Nabiki's thoughts again. "Good thing you have such a convincing act to use as an alibi. The Ice Queen act is such a cleaver disguise that only a really sneaky person would use it."

My God! That's probably exactly the way Ranma's fiancee's minds work! But even if it was an act, Ranma surely would never think of going out with me. I've used him from the first-

"And no one would believe that I really hate my fiancees and only living at the dojo because of one of Akane's older sisters." 

He was right next to her now, still shirtless, and straining to hold back a fit of laughter. Nabiki had never been so flustered in her life and this . . . this boy . . . this shirtless boy . . . with rippling hard muscles and . . . "RANMA NO BAKA!" Nabiki clobbered the laughing martial artist with a close by pillow. Ranma fell to the floor, only because he was laughing so hard his legs had become weak. "I'll show you my Ice Queen act!" She screamed and grabbed the ice bucket from a night stand as she tackled the boy on the ground

*

Four hours of searching and still no luck. If Nabiki had taken Ranma out of Nerima then she would have gone by train and there is no telling how far she went. On their search, Shampoo and Akane picked up the other two fiancees and were able to cover more area quickly, but the results had been the same. They each met up at the Ucchan for breakfast to discuss their findings, which were very little. 

"What could they be doing?" Akane asked again, but at least she had an audience for her question this time.

Everyone was silent for a while as they thought about it, they all turned ashen at the images. "Let's not think about that, sugar. Besides, it's not like Nabiki would actually do anything with Ranma-honey." Ukyou tried to look on the bright side.

"Spatula Girl right. Mercenary Girl no like Airen that much." That made everyone feel a little better.

Kodachi suddenly started puzzling over something. "Yes, that Tendou Nabiki could never be devious or mischevious enough to pretend to hate Ranma-sama while harboring a deeply passionate love for him like myself." She nodded resolutely. Others were about to agree with her, but then . . . 'Nabiki could never be devious or mischevious . . . started repeating in their heads like someone had just told them one plus one made four. 

"Anyway," The group looked at Ukyou with some hope. "Ranma-honey is much to loyal to cheat on any of us."

They blinked.

Ukyou blinked back.

"None of that matters!" Akane screamed. "What matters is that Ranma would never cheat on any of us with Nabiki." Yes, that had to be true. Nabiki was such a cold woman that no man would even think about dating her. "It's not like Ranma could pretend to not care about any of us and only be living with me because my sister would be close by!"

*

Ucchan's grew one massive sweat drop.

*

Nabiki rolled onto her back, her head resting on Ranma's naked stomach. Her business cut hair was a mess of tangles and the pajamas she had worn to bed were twisted and wrinkled, laying awkwardly over her body, but revealing more than usual. She was breathing rather hard and convulsing every now and then; some called it laughing.

Ranma was no less ruffled and a pool of water had formed on her stomach. "That was mean." She huffed out, teeth slightly chattering.

"Well," Nabiki started between deep breaths. "You're safe now until I get some more ice." A messy redhead slowly rose over her and graced her with a friendly smile.

"Thanks, Beaks. That was fun." Ranma-chan hugged the bigger girl briefly then helped her to her feet.

"Beaks?"

"Sure." Ranma shrugged, pulling on her Chinese shirt. "Might as well be friends if we're gonna work so closely together now."

"Beaks." She repeated again.

Ranma frowned for a moment then saw Nabiki's dazed look. "Don't worry, Beaks. You'll get used to it. It was either that or Icky-chan, ne?" Heading over to Nabiki's purse, Ranma pulled out a few thousand yen and headed for the door. "I'm gonna get us somethin for breakfast. Be back soon."

Nabiki gave a little wave as Ranma disappeared around the door. As it closed, she felt her legs losing their strength and her balance left her falling over the bed behind her. "I've . . . I've never had a friend before." Letting the idea settle, Nabiki found she did like it and Ranma certainly had grown on her. She hadn't abused the aquatransexual as much as she used to for a while. "But I'm going to have to do something about that nickname."

*

They returned home a little after lunch time. Ranma had insisted that they stop by another of the restaurants in Tokyo before leaving since he enjoyed the last one so much. Pizza was a very greasy and messy meal, but it tasted very good, not something to be had using chopsticks however. 

After arriving in Nerima, they stopped by an ice cream parlor for a sundae each. They ate as they walked to the dojo at a slow, comfortable pace, talking about things in general and having a good time of it. 

Ranma still performed his regular acrobatic routines on the fence and any other obstacle. He had run out of ice cream a while ago and was stealing spoon-fulls from Nabiki's. She didn't mind though and held the sundae out so he could get to it easier. 

Nabiki was especially happy. She had lots of money that should take care of her family and leave her with extra spending money. People would still see her as the Ice Queen, but now she would have a larger arena of influence. And she got her first friend from an unlikely source. Nothing could ruin this perfect day.

"Nabiki! Ranma!" Akane shouted from the front porch.

Spoke too soon, Nabiki thought. "Remember our contract, Ranma. You have to make up for last night."

Ranma smirked at her and landed at her side without making a sound. "Don't worry about it, Beaks. I'll take care of everything." Before he took off to meet Akane and his other fiancees head-on, he glanced back at her. "You might want to get a camera out. You'll like this." And he was off, bounding over the small fence and landing neatly in front of a furious, mallet-wielding, Akane.

"Ranma you je-"

"Hi, Akane-chan." Acting quickly, Ranma stepped in closer and planted both of his hands on either side of his fiancees head and pulled her in for a quick, deep kiss. 

Nabiki flashed her camera a few times to get the couple together and then her little sister's stunned and aroused expression after Ranma took off with his other fiancees hot on his heels. He was right again. Ranma had taken care of everything. No one even stopped to confront her and likely never would now. Akane had been left on such a high from the kiss, Nabiki was certain she could knock her over with a little nudge. Instead, she just laughed and dragged her sister into the house. 

"Nice one, Ranma-kun." She grinned at her retreating friend.

*

The modeling career got underway immediately. So Ranma had to act fast to put Akane's mind at ease and get things squared away with as many people as possible. He tried to explain things to his other fiancees, but they only argued and demanded a kiss or a date for compensation. Ranma hadn't budged for anything. Instead, he ended up running through Nerima until he lost sight of the girls, running through back alleys and over roofs.

Nabiki was able to explain to Akane about Ranma's new life and what they had ended up doing that night. She was very amused and blushed a number of times as Akane went into some detail of what she thought they had been doing. 

Ranma got back to the dojo, whistling a tune, a little before lunch. The fancy restaurants in Tokyo had been nice but nothing beat Kasumi's home-cooking in Ranma's book. Sitting at the table, he noticed Akane eyeing him with some malice, but not with the usual fire in her eyes to back it up. He offered her a smile and apologized for what he had done. This time their kiss lasted a little longer and both participated. 

In Ranma's old world, he would have become tongue-tied and denied everything and argued with Soun and Genma. This time, he simply stared the old men down and said they would marry when they were ready. Akane seemed to respond positively to that idea.

Giggling from the corner of the room brought Ranma's attention back to the present. It was a little after two in the afternoon and he was standing in a photo shoot room wearing a black evening suit with white shirt and tie. His hair had been made up by some people in makeup. They were just finishing up the last round of shots for a men's fashion magazine.

"And I'm spent. Great job everyone. That's it for today. Ranma, just wonderful. We'll give your agent a call in a couple of weeks for the next shoot. Okay everyone let's . . ." The photographer became tuned out of Ranma's consciousness as he focused in on Akane sitting beside Nabiki, watching the results of his new career.

"What's so funny?" asked Ranma, taking off his jacket and grabbing some bottled water.

Akane waved it off while trying to hold down her mirth. "It's nothing. You just seemed to enjoy the . . . exposure more than I thought you would."

"Indeed, Saotome." Nabiki smirked. "It's a wonder you didn't accept my earlier offers when we first met."

Snorting, Ranma helped the two girls to their feet and pulled them along to the dressing room so they could continue to talk. "It ain't like that. I was up on that roof for two weeks getting myself ready for this stuff. I finally figured I could treat it like a new martial arts technique."

"Is everything with you martial arts?" Nabiki rolled her eyes. She didn't really need to ask that question.

"There wasn't any other way I'd model for someone. Besides, as long as I'm doing it and getting paid, I may as well do it the best I can." Ranma jumped behind a screen to change back into his normal clothes. "Hey, Beaks, are things going to lax a bit more when school starts?"

Akane blinked. "Beaks?"

Nabiki shrugged at her sister and raised her voice a bit for Ranma to hear. "No need to worry, Ranma-kun. I'm your agent after all. Nobody gets a hold of you without my say so."

Stringing up the suit along one of the bars, Ranma came back around the screen smiling devilishly at his agent. "Getting possessive, ne? Akane may get jealous."

Nabiki blinked and blushed a little. He keeps doing that to me, she complained.

Jabbing a finger into his chest, Akane mock-scowled at him. "I better not find a reason to get jealous."

Ranma laughed and grabbed Akane's hand to lead her out of the building. "Don't worry, Akane-chan. Beaks and I hid all the evidence." Man, this is fun! I should've started doing this stuff a long time ago.

"What?!" The two girls shouted at once.

Ranma just laughed harder. 

*

Dinner was pleasant for a change at the Tendou residence. With Ranma out on his first photo shoot and Akane with him, they were able to skip a night stomach pumping due to unstable foodstuffs. Around the house, Nabiki acted more like her old self, but she carried a little smile with her the whole evening. As for Ranma, this new lifestyle was making him want to wretch but he couldn't ignore the way the rest of the household responded to the changes. 

Once Nabiki had returned earlier today, she had explained things to Akane and the others. Soun and Genma were as happy as Azusa with a new pet. Kasumi scolded her for fooling them like that last night, but Nabiki could see the elder sister was happy with the way things seemed to be turning out.

With the meal over, Kasumi went to cleaning in the kitchen and Nabiki headed upstairs to her room. Genma and Soun restarted their unending game of Go while Akane and Ranma lounged on the sofa watching whatever was on TV. 

"You're still a jerk, Ranma." Akane noted as they flipped through the channels. Feeling unusually comfortable around the boy, she was leaning against his shoulder and hugging his arm to her body.

Ranma nodded and set the remote down, finding an old Jackie Chan flick on. "And you're still a tomboy."

Huffing softly, she punched him lightly in the stomach and leaned in a little further. "Pervert."

"Uncute." He leaned in to meet her as Akane arched her back to bring her face closer to his.

Akane's lips were so close to Ranma's that she could feel his breath, warm and gentle. "Jerk."

"You said that already." Ranma brushed a few strands of hair out of Akane's eyes, his lips almost making contact with her own.

"I did?" Ranma nodded. "Oh well, I'll think of something later . . ." She pressed into him just a little bit more and they were kissing. Not their first kiss, but one they both actively responded to. Wow, Akane thought as she drank in the kiss, who knew he would taste so good?

Across the room, two fathers looked up from their game to watch their children kissing. They seemed to be caught off guard, holding intermediate positions over the board, a stone in either hand. When the kiss didn't seem to have an end, they looked back at each other, man and panda.

"Saotome," Soun began, placing a stone on the board. "Was that a fight or a make-out scene?" 

"Growf." The panda shrugged his shoulders and set down a stone of his own.

Nodding and turning his full attention back to the game, Soun frowned. "Perhaps it is best we not know."

"Growf."

*

It was getting late and Akane had gone to bed. Ranma walked out of his fiancees room after spending a little more 'quality time' with her. Things were certainly looking up for the young martial artist. 

Most of the house was dark now, Kasumi and the old men were in their rooms getting ready for bed. Only a low light from beneath Nabiki's doorway lit the hall for Ranma to see his way through. He would have passed by quickly if he hadn't started to become friends with the middle daughter. The sounds of typing filtered through the door and Ranma wondered what business might be keeping Nabiki awake. She said she liked getting her beauty sleep and wouldn't let anything get in the way. So he knocked.

"Who is it?" A yawning reply answered him. She must be really tired after all the stuff they had done over the last two days.

"Ranma. Can I come in?"

"Sure, Ranma-kun." The door opened slightly and he saw a sleepy brunette in a sheer night gown and silk robe. "What's up?"

"I was just on my way to bed and heard ya typin on your computer so I thought I'd stop in. Whatcha up to?" He sat down on her bed as Nabiki resumed her typing.

Yawning briefly, she pressed a final key and the program finished. "I'm just finishing off your resume."

"Resume?"

She nodded. "This is how things are done most of the time. I'm not going to parade you around the world if I can just send in a photo. I kept some of the shots from this afternoon's shoot and I'm circulating the work to other perspective employers. We should do the same with your girl side too."

He should have realized this new career would be much more exciting for Nabiki than it was for him. In one day she made more than she could blackmail out of people at school in a week. Letting his eyes wander around the room, Ranma fixed on a chalkboard with names of the household written on it. "What's this?" He asked, taking a closer look.

"I have a small side bet going with everyone as to which form will make it bigger." Nabiki smirked.

Ranma grimaced, but read the sheet, interested in what people thought. It went pretty much as expected. "Well, our fathers are voting for my curse while the girls are voting for the real me. Except for . . ." Grinning, Ranma turned to regard his agent.

"Oh, it's not like that, you hentai. I'm just going with popular opinion in the school." She huffed, crossing her arms under her chest.

Ranma grinned a bit broader. "Of course, Beaks."

Rolling her eyes, Nabiki stood up and collapsed onto her stomach over the bed. 

"Somethin' the matter?"

The moonlight reflected softly off the robe, glowing like an angel, Nabiki turned over onto her side. Ranma could see the outline of her luscious body. It was the apple and the snake wrapped into one. "I was just thinking of all the extra work I've got to do now."

"Oh?" Ranma looked elsewhere, not trusting his body even around Nabiki.

"I'm going to have to make records for 'Ranko' to keep people from getting suspicious and finding out about the curse." Ranma nodded. "Then set up separate accounts and, of course, come up with a new wardrobe with all of this extra money." She smiled and stared up at the ceiling. The possibilities with Ranma's modeling were almost endless. She had far off goals to get him into the movies. He would go for it with the chance of meeting his favorite martial artist/movie star, Jackie Chan. 

"Of course." No matter how she tried to hide it, Nabiki was just like every other girl, Ranma thought pleasantly. "Well, it sounds like you're gonna be pretty busy then."

"You too."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked. Fights, fiancees, school, and modeling career, and now she says he was going to be busy? "What's that mean?"

Staring smugly at the martial artist, Nabiki tossed him a pamphlet. "You've got training to do."

Ranma stared at the cover for a moment. It was oriented about a specific major at Tokyo University, Theater and Drama. "Ah, no way, Nabiki. I'm already planning on taking Sport Science so I can take over the dojo."

"Fine." Nabiki mumbled half asleep and working her way further under the covers. "Take Sports Science, just take this too. You'll need it in your career."

"I still got a couple of months before Akane and me are finished with Furinkan." He reminded her.

Nabiki shrugged and rested her head against the pillow. "So? With one shoot done, you can start most of those classes as part of the Spring semester." Not hearing anymore argument, she closed her eyes. "Now get out of here. I need my beauty sleep."

Sighing, Ranma left, wondering if this had been a good idea after all. A look at Akane's room and he believed that it was.

The End (?)

***

This one was kind of fun to write, but took me a while to decide if it was finished enough for a short story if I decided not to continue. Let me know what you think.

Send email to jehtek@hotmail.com

Or visit my website at www.geocities.com/jehtek/

Ja ne.


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